Farmers markets

Heart and soul of community

Nashoba Publisning/Dianne Bunis
Fresh corn is picked and ready at local farmers markets.

Shopping at local farmers markets is an opportunity to find healthier ways to shop, cook and eat while connecting with the local community, farmers and vendors.

Buying fresh, sustainably-raised food supports local small diversified farms, is better for the environment by ensuring green spaces, conserves land for agriculture, reduces carbon emissions from shipping produce and, ultimately, benefits the well-being of an entire community.

Choosing food at the farmers market allows you to look at food and how your food is produced in an entirely different way as you get to know the farmer. Many work farms passed down from generations while others are new, young agricultural entrepreneurs.

One of the joys of eating food grown locally is that the start of each item's season is cause for celebration, featuring summer strawberries, the sweetest you ever tasted, to tender Delicata squash in autumn. Your food choices and experiences will broaden as you discover varieties you may not have tried before -- pea shoots, garlic scapes, spinach, kale or chard.

Items at farmers markets may be certified organic, certified naturally grown or sustainably grown. The best way to understand how the food is produced is to simply ask the farmer what his growing methods are and where the farm is located.

While you might pay a little more at the market than at the supermarket, the taste is worth it.

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It doesn't get any fresher than when a farmer tells you with pride, and dirt under his fingernails, that his veggies were harvested just hours ago.

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